The Ghost King's KeeperCh79 - Response to the Message

“…I will do my best as the Ghost King’s Keeper.” 

As the fear of danger subsided, a clear voice brought everyone out of their stupor. The same voice echoed and rang in the dead of the night, as hearts were assuaged of lingering dread and critical thinking.   QbEl4

“The Ghost King’s Keeper…!” a young man not any older than Ruzen whispered to himself, a clarity making way in his mind, “he said it…” 

Keepers were proud of their heritage only when they had a great Kept. And seeing to whom Ru’Zen worded his pledge, it was no wonder the words spoken were bold and unkempt. What a confident man! 

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Secretly, many followers of the King in the crowd smiled to themselves, they had at first doubted the young man, taking him for a stumbling beginner who was still wet behind the ears, but turns out, the man had a strong will and a hidden prowess that not many could exploit in plain sight. 

But although empowering, the speech was also a big warning to those who were hidden behind the scenes. Nobody had expected that this young man could actually say something so bold and on live broadcast. The enemies were glaring and making plans already, but those who had already enacted on those plans were waiting to see just how true the warning actually was.  eCZPNJ

One had to know that a warning wasn’t a warning until the one who said it had enacted upon it. Because words were often used in a liberal sense, not often heavy with intent, but just a vocal echo of thought. 

And the new keeper’s voice had been heard as something similar, just an assimilation of well put but immature words. 

It also depended on who took what conclusion. The positive villagers viewed it as something enlightening, while the major power houses saw it as an opportunate involvement. Some, the neutral parties, deemed it as encouraging, but those who were critical, found it appalling. To give power to a mere Keeper, someone who could be so blatant and obvious at first look… it was not a good strategy. At the initial stage, the Keeper would be worshiped, but if the Keeper turned out to be weak and nothing more than a simpleton, then the ones in power would tarnish the Keeper’s reputation and rank.  

Unfit for rule, the Keeper was a bargaining chip and the Kept’s tool, but if the same Keeper was given too much power, then there might be issues raised in the court. 

The simple-minded villagers may have been won over, but those who sat on high seats, they were nervous or even amused. The King gave the Keeper so much power and comfort, what was the reason for doing so? If some of them were any less bright, they may have thought nothing of it, but they were clever enough to understand the basics and could tell that the Keeper was being led into the core of the council, a move that the King did in hiding. 

The Ghost King made it very obvious that his person was to sit in the middle of the curdle, and get stirred with the rest. It was yet not clear as to who would do the stirring and who would lead the curdle. Some were reluctant to even move their pieces, because the Keeper was a wild card, so it was better to sit and wait for opportunity. 

~ 

“The King is going to strike again, this time he would do it with the help of this Keeper,” the God of the East Wind, Kazebalam, said to his retainer, Kahaba. The God was generally mischievous and certainly playful, but today he was anything but.  DBYe1I

“You deployed a batch of deities last time when the first one met a hurdle. You angered the Ghost King such that our envoy was send back with two big gashes on his chest.” Kahaba was mindful of being polite, but his tone was quite serious. “Please God Kazebalam, you should know not to intervene this time.” 

“I am being mindful, what are you on about?” the flippant answer would have angered anyone, but Kahaba was not ‘anyone’. He had worked for the God since before the God’s reign of terror started. 

But even now, one attribute of the God hadn’t changed, he was still arrogant. 

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“I am not sending in anyone;” the God reluctantly explained, “you can calm your heart. But I am certainly interested in this little Keeper he has found for himself. If he had to make this little thing keep his status flawless, then certainly… he ‘is’ getting old.”  Hps4Ym

Kahaba sighed internally, the God always got carried away when it came to ‘age’. It was rumored that both Kazebalam and the Ghost King were ‘friends’ initially… they only became estranged when the Ghost King decided to establish his own empire, but even till date they still met during important social gatherings and hosted celebrations. 

Kahaba sometimes wondered if the God was a little too focused on the Ghost King, but he dared not voice his question in the fear of angering the Almighty. 

“This Keeper is said to be strong, very strong… in fact his prowess has led to fear being established in the hearts of many.” 

It did get the God’s attention, “Explain.”  wArgQ3

Kahaba politely bowed, “It is said that the Keeper was given the ‘Gift’ by the King, and he is powerful enough to curse a village full of people. They are even saying that he participated in some recent competition and broke some core measuring-” 

“Not that, focus on the curse inflection, how come I did not hear about it?” 

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“Forgive this Kahaba, Almighty God, but this Kahaba heard that before coming to Manjo, this young Keeper had successfully cursed a village full of people, even killing them… although that wasn’t clear.” 

“And he is new…?”  zqrfiN

“Certainly, he was also being hidden somewhere by the King, but that is not a solid information.” 

“He did hide him,” the God grinned, “that Ghost is clever, he knew if his precious little jewel was seen so soon, he would lose the battle before it even started.” 

A ringing laugh was heard throughout the throne hall as the staff braced themselves for some mischievous scolding. 

None came, so the staff sighed in relief and stayed as still as they were meant to.  9yG0Qo

“This Ghost didn’t even invite anyone, neither did he send any news, and then he announces a new Keeper in training, what does it means?” 

Nobody spoke, as the God sat thinking, his brows furrowed in concentration. “I believe he is planning to clean his council and strengthen his reign for now. Also…” 

Many perked up their ears, as their God loudly ended his sentence, “…I think that he will be sending in this Keeper in the next summit. He is trying to speak through his Keeper, it will be a great show. Hahahaha~ I will wait, dear Ghost, I will wait for the fun. Hahahaha~” 

~  l80yPU

“Your majesty, it’s clearly them… it is clearly an assault directed at you… I believe it was mandated by the same culprit who first forced our hands,” Bearer Ko’Lin mentioned to the King with a whisper. The huge hall was silent as the others in the court were carefully watching the broadcast of their new Keeper. It hadn’t been this obvious before, those who were curious had been secretly watching in their own private spaces… but then, the King suddenly summoned everyone and asked for the live feed. Turns out that as soon as the broadcast was tuned in, the first action the King saw was the malicious attack from that high level creature. 

Bearer Ko’Lin was enacting in place of bearer Ou’Ni. Since the senior was away on a very important business related to Ruzen, Ko’Lin was meant to take his place immediately. 

Currently, they were aware that Ou’Ni deployed the action troop in place of King when there was need, but the King didn’t seem happy about it… nobody knew what exactly he was thinking. Maybe it was not Ou’Ni who had made him grim, but the real culprits behind the scene. 

“No need to bring in that ghost in question. Eradicate him.”  JRGZkW

A dull silence echoed in the hall, as the council members, dared not even mumble. Generally, the King didn’t attend court so eagerly, however, regularly, each week, the King did participate in decision making, but from atop the Million peaks, where not many could see him clearly. 

The current hall was rather lack luster in comparison, but the King had changed his arrangement recently to suit the council members… or so they thought. 

Because the only other possibility was of the King being grievously sick and unable to attend council from atop Million Peaks. And that possibility scared quite a few members. 

“Make sure he is not harmed again, send the shadow warriors.”  5jxM4q

“We will.” Bearer Ko’Lin responded immediately, even if it had been a while since he last took command of things, he was a very mature and experienced man. He could hold his position very well, so he didn’t look nervous like the few of the attendants next to him. 

[“…The King’s barrier is still holding and the protection will stay strong. The enemies are trying to find ways to kill me, but they aren’t targeting you all. You also saw how the male ghost never attacked you, he was trying to command the creature to attack ‘me’.”] 

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The echo made itself known as the soft but bold voice spoke without hesitation. And Bearer Ko’Lin took in the others in the hall who looked quite befuddled to be honest. 

They hadn’t expected to hear the Keeper being so active right from the very beginning, and that too just after being attacked… Oh ho~ It was amusing for Bearer Ko’Lin to see the varied range of expressions.   CUsmdv

Though, he dared not look at the King… he was scared of what he may find there. If the King was angry, or not satisfied… that strong blue glare was very frightening to experience. 

[“…not see that the protection would never cease until the King is strong and in power?”] 

Bearer Ko’Lin was sure that those words already won many hearts… hm, not bad. 

[“The King is strong, the world fears him still for a reason, he is not just any ghost, he is the Ghost King, so doubting his protection, doubting me… is not going to do anything. I am not here for show, I am here to support the King for the rest of my life,”]   ucb8HF

Bold! Very Bold! Bearer Ko’Lin couldn’t help but reveal a small smile, it had been a while since someone sided with the King so aggressively. He could see similar delight in many faces, but some were passive. Hm, maybe he needed to target those passive faces more in his daily rantings. 

[“…and I am not a person who would cower away from enemies or fear retribution. I am young and reckless, but not a fool, not a weakling, and neither a polite person. I won’t waste my life on someone who is going to fall in future…”] 

Well said, Bearer Ko’Lin thought within, who wasted time on the losing party if they had a choice to choose the mighty? This was something many didn’t understand. The King wasn’t just a powerful figure, but his destiny was certainly not something even fate knew of. To follow his majesty was very exciting. 

[“…I am supporting the King, I am going to be his keeper not because he chose me, but because I also chose him. He would be my only owner, my only kept and my only family whom I would not doubt, and would certainly die for.”]  Km8WOo

Silence. 

Total silence rang true as many in the council didn’t even dare breath. Some were simply left astounded. It was correct that many members held the King as someone in high regards, someone precious, but this was the first time someone had declared ‘ownership’ over the King. 

[“Enemies can test me all they want but they would never break me or my values. I will protect the King as he does me. My life is his from now, because he is the only being who is worthy of my loyalty. A person who is strong enough to protect so many people, a King who worked for his people… he is not someone who would go down in a fight. I will become worthy of the King, of his people and his court, I pledge my life to this cause… so have faith in me…”] 

Bearer Ko’Lin almost sniffed, such words, they froze even him. The sentences were not formed as correctly, and there were errors and mispronunciations, but did that matter? The words even if simple and slightly immature, the intent behind them was profound. The care and concern, the emotions, they were all specifically targeting the people, the enemies and the king.   BAz2Je

Was this kid not afraid that his words may offend the King? 

Against his better judgement, Bearer Ko’Lin took a glance at the King. And what he saw almost made him stunned.  

Their king was smiling, and it wasn’t just any smile, there was a hidden intent behind it, a certain craftiness and smugness that had never been seen before. Bearer Ko’Lin was sure of it. 

So much for being afraid, did the keeper know his words would have this effect?  YfH 45

[“… I will do my best as the Ghost King’s Keeper.”] 

The hall fell silent as finally, something unheard of happened. There was a buzz in the air as energy crackled and the King started to laugh. Loud and unplanned, amused even. 

Chrysanthemum Garden.

Bearer Ko’Lin – he would even swear an oath – had never heard the King laugh before. Never! 

Wh-What was happening, were Ghost even capable of laughing? Did someone else switch with the King? Or was the King just…   j1kDsy

Impossible! Impossible! Impossible! 

Nobody dared to even call for the King’s attention. But the laugh stopped naturally after a certain time, and the King opened his eyes to stare at the council. His gaze was so bright and glossy, nobody would dare to think of him as someone sick. Actually, he looked quite rejuvenated. 

“We have selected a very good Keeper, We have to say he surprised even Us. When he comes here, don’t give him much trouble.” The Ghost King suddenly stopped smiling, and his words held a warning, so it made everyone tense. “He is young and easily manipulated into things, but he has good potential. Preserve him as you would Us.” 

The words ended softly, to some it might sound as if the King was giving away the Keeper’s weakness, but rather, he was just announcing the Keeper’s strength. Because if the King was backing the younger cursed one, surely, nobody would try to manipulate him, and the King backing someone was unheard of, it rarely ever happened. So, the Keeper was already the highest-ranking member in the King’s eyes, it was a great strength in itself.  yZ3RMB